There is now considerable controversy concerning the role that incremental change plays in the process of organizational transformation. Some scholars assert that incremental change is the primary source of resistance to more radical re-orientations, while others argue that on occasion, ongoing incremental change can produce dramatic transformation. To help reconcile these competing perspectives, in this paper I report the results of an inductive study of one firm's successful attempt to improve continuously and incrementally its core manufacturing process. The principal results of this effort are: (1) to challenge the current view of the source of change in process-oriented improvement initiatives; and (2) to offer an alternative characterization of the mechanisms through which competence-enhancing, incremental change actually occurs. The theory emerging from this analysis provides one path to resolving the dilemma posed by incremental change processes that can, on occasion, produce organizational transformation, but more often limit the organization's ability to adapt to its environment. / MIT Center for Innovation in Product Development under NSF Cooperative Agreement Number EEC-9529140

This study examines the strategic and operational outcomes of effective implementation of quality improvement initiatives in different service operational environments. Using a sample of 354 service organisations, this study utilises a structural equation modelling (SEM) approach to investigate the effectiveness of quality improvement initiatives. The results show clear strategic and operational benefits of effective implementation of quality improvement initiatives. The study concludes that the quality improvement efforts of service organisations should be viewed from a system-wide perspective. This systematic orientation leads to benefits which are not always achievable based on a piece-meal implementation orientation.

Understanding the wide range of outcomes achieved by firms trying to implement TQM and similar process improvement initiatives presents a challenge to management science and organization theory: a few firms reap sustained benefits from their programs, but most efforts fail and are abandoned. A defining feature of such techniques is the reliance on the front-line workforce to do the work of improvement, thus creating the possibility of agency problems; different incentives facing managers and workers. Specifically, successfully improving productivity can lead to lay-offs. The literature provides two opposing theories of how agency interacts with the ability of quality-oriented improvement techniques to dramaticlly increase productivity. The 'Drive Out Fear' school argues that firms must commit to job security, while the 'Drive In Fear' school emphasizes the positive role that insecurity plays in motivating change. In this study a contract theoretic model is developed to analyze the role of agency in process improvement. The main insight of the study is that there are two types of job security, internal and external, that have opposite impacts on the firm's abilty to implement improvement initiatives. The distinction is useful in explaining the results of different case studies and can reconcile the two change theories. / National Science Foundation, grant SBR-9422228, the Ford Motor Company and the Harley-Davidson Motor Company. MIT Sloan School of Management, Center for Innovation in Product Development

Syftet med den här studien är att bidra med kunskap om lärares, special­pedagogers, rektorers och förvaltningsledningens erfarenheter och upplevelser om förbättrings­insatsen specialpedagogik för lärande (SFL) och dess inverkan på förbättringsarbetet i en kommun, på såväl skol­enheter som i kommunen i stort. SFL är en kollegial kompetens­utvecklingsinsats med syfte att höja lärares kompetens inom specialpedagogik. Studien har en kvalitativ ansats och fokusgrupper har använts som metod. Resultatet har analyserats utifrån Illeris teori om de tre lärandedimensionerna. Resultatet pekar på att specialpedagogik för lärande är en form av kollegialt lärande som i många delar upplevs fungera bra för lärares lärande, men som behöver anpassas tidsmässigt för att inte upplevas alltför intensiv. Den specialpedagogiska kompetensen upplevs ha höjts på samtliga kommunens enheter sedan SFL genomfördes. Eleverna har  efter insatsen överlag fått tillgång till fler generella och individuella anpassningar och har blivit mer delaktiga i processer kring sin egen undervisning. Det finns samtidigt lärare som ännu inte fullt ut ger sina elever dessa möjligheter. Kommunens specialpedagoger har kompetens inom skolutveckling som inte alltid nyttjas. Om de får större mandat från rektor så kan de ta ett större ansvar för att tillsammans med denne leda skolförbättringsinsatser och skolutveckling, eventuellt genom att bli en del av skolornas ledningsgrupper. För att nå ännu längre i en kommande förbättringsinsats skulle det vara bra om förvaltningsledningen tog ett större övergripande ansvar för implementering och lik­värdighet i kommunen samt att rektorer tog ett större ansvar för att följa upp arbetet i grupperna genom direkt medverkan eller genom nära samverkan med handledare av grupperna, s.k. distribuerat ledarskap. Rektors första fokus bör vara undervisningens kvalitet. / The aim of the following paper is to contribute to the understanding of experiences had by teachers, special educators, principals and administrative management, with regards to the Special education for learning (SFL) scheme’s impact and stimulus on a municipality’s school improvement initiatives, in specific schools as well as the muni­cipality as a whole. SFL is a collegial competence development initiative with the aim of raising teachers' competence in special education.  The study has a qualitative approach and focus groups have been used as a method. The results have been analysed on the basis of Illeri's theory of the three dimensions of learning. Results indicate that special education for learning is a form of collegial learning that is largely perceived to work well for teachers' learning, but which needs to be ad­justed timewise to avoid being too rigorous. Competence around special education peda­gogy is considered increased at every school in the district since the implementation of SFL. After the intervention, the students have generally gained access to more general and individual adaptations and have become more involved in processes around their own teaching. At the same time, there are teachers who do not yet fully give their students these opportunities. Special educators in the municipality have expertise in the field of school development which is, to some extent, untapped. With increased mandate from the principal, special educators could shoulder more of the responsibility for school improvement and development initiatives, possibly through becoming part of the school’s management team.  In order to reach even further in a future improvement effort, it would be positive  for the administration management to take a greater overall responsibility for implementation and equality  in the district, as well as principals taking greater responsibility for following up on the work conducted in the groups, either through direct participation, or close collaboration with supervisors of the groups, so-called distributed leadership. The principal's first focus should be the quality of teaching.